Thousands of fare dodgers have been rounded up during a clampdown on ticket fraud on the Metro.

Metro managers say operations by teams of inspectors, along with a decision to double on-the-spot fines to #20, has led to a dramatic reduction in fares evasion.

Bosses at Nexus, which runs the railway, claim the number of trips made by people without tickets has been cut by about one million in the past year.

In the past two months, almost 7,000 fare dodgers have been caught, and operations were under way again this week at stations, including Monument in Newcastle city centre and Byker.

Nexus loses about #1m a year as a result of fare dodging, but the estimated number of fraudulent journeys fell from 3.1 million to 2.1 million in the year up to March.

However, officials admit the crackdown will also affect passenger figures as fare dodgers are driven off the railway. People made nearly 36 million trips in the past year.

Managers say the crackdown will continue with a rolling programme of swoops by inspectors.

Communications director Andy Bairstow said: "Our aim is to get the numbers down even further over the next 12 months.

"I know the vast majority of law-abiding passengers want to see the cheats caught.

"Sadly, there are some people who will always try to cheat the system. But the evidence is we are making life so tough for them that they're now staying off the Metro."

The increase in penalties from #10 to #20, introduced nationally a year ago, has proved a major deterrent.

Record numbers of people are being successfully prosecuted for failing to pay the penalty fare with fines and costs totalling nearly #500,000 dished out to more than 4,000 offenders in the past year.

In some cases the courts are handing out record penalties - two regular fare dodgers were fined more than #800 apiece.

In March, 3,600 people were caught without tickets and in April another 3,141.

Metro director Ken Mackay said: "The #20 penalty fare has played a significant part in reducing ticket fraud levels but so has the hard work of inspectors and our policy of targeting busy stations and hotspots around the system."

The anti-fraud strategy includes high-profile and frequent ticket checks at all Metro stations and on board trains by inspectors and police.

Travel support officers have been introduced to patrol trains and hand-held computers now process details of fare dodgers quickly. Persistent offenders can be targeted.

Posters across the network name and shame all those successfully prosecuted.